Florida Gators: Recruiting Mailbag January 29th

National Signing Day is less than a week away now for the Florida Gators and the rest of America and the Gators are currently sitting on just 10 commits but are trending up for several guys.

GatorCountry.com members have several questions about how this class will fill out and how the new coaching staff led by Jim McElwain are doing on the recruiting trail.

In this edition of our recruiting mailbag I’ll get everyone caught up all things Florida Gators recruiting and much more.

Gator78: I know Steven Clark wants to play DL in college. Would or could the coaches tell him to be a team player and play the OL early (so we have bodies there) and then move him to DL once we recruit more bodies for the OL over the next 2 years? I feel he can be good on OL, but more than good as a defensive player.

AS: The coaches have told Clark that they want him to start out on the offensive line and if it doesn’t work out there then they will move him to the defensive line. Clark says he’s ok with that message.

G8rntn: How many offensive line commits do we get? And who do think they will end up being? And did you get tickets to The Masters? I did… Haha

AS: I think Florida lands Martez Ivey, Tyree St. Louis, Steven Clark to give them six in the class. I think they have an outside shot with Nick Buchanan, Christian Pellage and Trey Dereouen.

And heck no I didn’t get Masters tickets. You need a plus 1 for that weekend?

Gator_nica: Isn’t the last weekend of the recruiting cycle a Junior day?

AS: Florida is holding its junior day in February this year. A lot of schools do that and this year Florida is doing that as well.

Gator_nica: We have read Cowart’s comments on UF, but what about CeCe? Why is he trending towards Ole Miss?

AS: They have been showing him more love than Florida as of late and the coaching staff change didn’t help that.

AS: McElwain getting in so late helped them out a lot plus Muschamp’s lack of offensive prowess has players looking elsewhere. That will change as soon as McElwain puts a product on the field.

Juggernautz: What will GC be doing on NSD to keep us informed?

AS: Chat room opening at 7 and stories throughout the day. Plus plenty of notes on prospects.

MrB-Gator: How many LB’s?

AS: Right now it could be just one in the class in Rayshad Jackson. Florida hopes to host Richard McBryde and Adonis Thomas this weekend in hopes of flipping them from Auburn and Alabama respectively.

Firegator: AS,you’re a brave man doing this thread at this time!

AS: I just tell you guys what I know and that’s all I can do. I don’t let fear scare me.

Ol2ange: Do you expect there to be any safety commits at this time?

AS: I don’t expect there to be any safeties in this class.

Ol2ange: Can you list the probability for each RB prospect committing to UF?
-Jordan Cronkrite
-Jordan Scarlett
-Jaason Lewis

AS: Cronkrite is down to UF and West Virginia with Florida leading. Scarlett in my opinion is likely to flip to either FSU or Florida but I would say FSU has the edge, but it’s close. Lewis has gone quiet but Florida is still fighting here.

Gatordon: Is it true that Muschamp is engaging in negative recruiting ?

AS: Yes he is but McElwain quickly shut him up about the indoor practice facility. McElwain just needs to get on the field and prove he’s better than Muschamp.

Gatordon: Which recruits have you been most impressed by in your conversations?

AS: Jabari Zuniga, Jordan Scarlett, Tyler Jordan and Byron Cowart are all great interviews. Jordan is a leader and someone that I can’t wait to watch for four years at Florida.

Gatorguy1885: Where do you think we finish in recruiting nationally?

AS: Around 50 or so is my guess but it all depends on the 5 stars like Cowart and CeCe Jefferson.

Gatorguy1885: And…what is the % chance that Cowart, Jeffery Holland, and Jefferson go to the same school?

AS: I don’t believe in package deals and I highly doubt it works out this year either. If it does work out then it’s very likely Florida.

Chompin22: What’s up with trob? Saw everyone calling him less than desirable names. Can you elaborate on Trob and Dinson recruitment?

AS: T-Rob was never after Jeremiah Dinson until Florida and Randy Shannon offered him and then all of sudden T-Rob was drooling over him. That’s the basis of it.

Gatorstuckey: What is your impression of the staff’s recruiting ability so far? Who are the top recruiter’s for us? What positions do you see us recruiting really well for the next few years (i.e. we had been pulling top notch DB’s under tog)?

AS: Tim Skipper, Kirk Callahan and Randy Shannon are all top recruiters for Florida. It’s tough for a coordinator to be a top recruiter because they don’t go out on the road as much during the season.

TheJGator: Do you think Coach Mac will take a page out of Nick’s book and save scholarships for next year so they can sweep a bunch of high-caliber prospects after having time to actually recruit them?

AS: They won’t fill all 27 scholarships they have free so they will save some for next year.

Gator_n_Bmore: I saw a recent 2016 WR recruit, Wells from Jacksonville (Raines School), pull the trigger and announce his commitment to the Gators the other day on Twitter… Do you think Mac was behind this to get some positive news out there??? Are there any big names in the “16 class that are gator leans and/or lifelong gator fans?? Will this staff value early commits and try to gather the majority of the class early in the game as a philosophy?? If so, are there any names that may pledge soon to keep an eye on??

AS: I think you will see Mac try and get the balling rolling early on in 2016 yes. McElwain didn’t ask Wells to go public but Wells wanted to after he got the scholarship offer from Florida on Monday.

Gator_n_Bmore: D’Anfernee McGriff – Any shot at this kid?… its been quiet since his OV this weekend

AS: He says he’s 100 percent to Auburn but Florida is still recruiting him hard but I think he sticks to the Tigers.

About Andrew Spivey

Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.

Andy: Would like your opinion on this. (1) The rebuilding of the Gator football program will be a 3-4 year project. It will be slow and hard. (2) With the exception of the DB there is lack of depth and/or talent at most positions. (3) Few, if any, of the incoming recruits will have the talent to contribute for 1-2 years. (4) This is not a reflection on McElwain and staff (I think they can get the job done) but with injuries, lack of depth and lack of offensive talent, next seasons W-L record may be worse than the final year of the Muschamp/Foley debacle.

If it’s true about WM, I don’t see how any recruit who he recruited at UF and is now recruiting at AU, could follow this cat. His trolling of UF is pretty pitiful, if true, and i’m only going by what AS

…by what AS suggest in the article. Anyway, as it shakes out it appears that UF is going to be left out in the cold this year.

Perhaps this happens every year and i’m just now paying attention to it because of the WM issue, but for a coach to get fired and then hired by another school and then in turn pitch that kid about his new school is a bit of a conflict. Now, granted the NCAA itself is a bag of bones, but this beats anything i’ve ever seen. This rivals the Lane Kiffin move from UT to USC and him and coach O telling kids not to sign with UT, but to wait until they were at USC. Why is this just being discussed as “normal recruiting”.

We may as well go back to slipping the kids an envelope and buying momma a new car.

Again, maybe WM has me so bitter towards him or maybe there is something wrong with these practices, or perhaps BOTH.

landportJanuary 29, 2015, 11:18 am

Sadly, it is apparently the nature of the business of high-stakes college football. Urban Meyer reported Brian White for a non-existent NCAA violation. Lane Kiffin did the same thing to Urban Meyer. There is nothing amateur about college football and basketball. It is a multi-billion dollar industry and a little things like ethics is not going to be much of a factor

National Signing Day is less than a week away now for the Florida Gators and the rest of America and the Gators are currently sitting on just 10 commits but are trending up for several guys.

GatorCountry.com members have several questions about how this class will fill out and how the new coaching staff led by Jim McElwain are doing on the recruiting trail.

In this edition of our recruiting mailbag I’ll get everyone caught up all things Florida Gators recruiting and much more.

Gator78: I know Steven Clark wants to play DL in college. Would or could the coaches tell him to be a team player and play the OL early (so we have bodies there) and then move him to DL once we recruit more bodies for the OL over the next 2 years? I feel he can be good on OL, but more than good as a defensive player.

AS: The coaches have told Clark that they want him to start out on the offensive line and if it doesn’t work out there then they will move him to the defensive line. Clark says he’s ok with that message.

G8rntn: How many offensive line commits do we get? And who do think they will end up being? And did you get tickets to The Masters? I did… Haha

AS: I think Florida lands Martez Ivey, Tyree St. Louis, Steven Clark to give them six in the class. I think they have an outside shot with Nick Buchanan, Christian Pellage and Trey Dereouen.

And heck no I didn’t get Masters tickets. You need a plus 1 for that weekend?

Gator_nica: Isn’t the last weekend of the recruiting cycle a Junior day?

AS: Florida is holding its junior day in February this year. A lot of schools do that and this year Florida is doing that as well.

Gator_nica: We have read Cowart’s comments on UF, but what about CeCe? Why is he trending towards Ole Miss?

AS: They have been showing him more love than Florida as of late and the coaching staff change didn’t help that.

AS: McElwain getting in so late helped them out a lot plus Muschamp’s lack of offensive prowess has players looking elsewhere. That will change as soon as McElwain puts a product on the field.

Juggernautz: What will GC be doing on NSD to keep us informed?

AS: Chat room opening at 7 and stories throughout the day. Plus plenty of notes on prospects.

MrB-Gator: How many LB’s?

AS: Right now it could be just one in the class in Rayshad Jackson. Florida hopes to host Richard McBryde and Adonis Thomas this weekend in hopes of flipping them from Auburn and Alabama respectively.

Firegator: AS,you’re a brave man doing this thread at this time!

AS: I just tell you guys what I know and that’s all I can do. I don’t let fear scare me.

Ol2ange: Do you expect there to be any safety commits at this time?

AS: I don’t expect there to be any safeties in this class.

Ol2ange: Can you list the probability for each RB prospect committing to UF?
-Jordan Cronkrite
-Jordan Scarlett
-Jaason Lewis

AS: Cronkrite is down to UF and West Virginia with Florida leading. Scarlett in my opinion is likely to flip to either FSU or Florida but I would say FSU has the edge, but it’s close. Lewis has gone quiet but Florida is still fighting here.

Gatordon: Is it true that Muschamp is engaging in negative recruiting ?

AS: Yes he is but McElwain quickly shut him up about the indoor practice facility. McElwain just needs to get on the field and prove he’s better than Muschamp.

Gatordon: Which recruits have you been most impressed by in your conversations?

AS: Jabari Zuniga, Jordan Scarlett, Tyler Jordan and Byron Cowart are all great interviews. Jordan is a leader and someone that I can’t wait to watch for four years at Florida.

Gatorguy1885: Where do you think we finish in recruiting nationally?

AS: Around 50 or so is my guess but it all depends on the 5 stars like Cowart and CeCe Jefferson.

Gatorguy1885: And…what is the % chance that Cowart, Jeffery Holland, and Jefferson go to the same school?

AS: I don’t believe in package deals and I highly doubt it works out this year either. If it does work out then it’s very likely Florida.

Chompin22: What’s up with trob? Saw everyone calling him less than desirable names. Can you elaborate on Trob and Dinson recruitment?

AS: T-Rob was never after Jeremiah Dinson until Florida and Randy Shannon offered him and then all of sudden T-Rob was drooling over him. That’s the basis of it.

Gatorstuckey: What is your impression of the staff’s recruiting ability so far? Who are the top recruiter’s for us? What positions do you see us recruiting really well for the next few years (i.e. we had been pulling top notch DB’s under tog)?

AS: Tim Skipper, Kirk Callahan and Randy Shannon are all top recruiters for Florida. It’s tough for a coordinator to be a top recruiter because they don’t go out on the road as much during the season.

TheJGator: Do you think Coach Mac will take a page out of Nick’s book and save scholarships for next year so they can sweep a bunch of high-caliber prospects after having time to actually recruit them?

AS: They won’t fill all 27 scholarships they have free so they will save some for next year.

Gator_n_Bmore: I saw a recent 2016 WR recruit, Wells from Jacksonville (Raines School), pull the trigger and announce his commitment to the Gators the other day on Twitter… Do you think Mac was behind this to get some positive news out there??? Are there any big names in the “16 class that are gator leans and/or lifelong gator fans?? Will this staff value early commits and try to gather the majority of the class early in the game as a philosophy?? If so, are there any names that may pledge soon to keep an eye on??

AS: I think you will see Mac try and get the balling rolling early on in 2016 yes. McElwain didn’t ask Wells to go public but Wells wanted to after he got the scholarship offer from Florida on Monday.

Gator_n_Bmore: D’Anfernee McGriff – Any shot at this kid?… its been quiet since his OV this weekend

AS: He says he’s 100 percent to Auburn but Florida is still recruiting him hard but I think he sticks to the Tigers.

AS: He needs a redshirt year, at least, to fine tune his technique before he’s ready to contribute to Florida.

Macbgator: Who will be the qb in this class, I know Lamar Jackson is our lone recruit, what are our chances?? Any other qb prospects ??

AS: Right now Lamar Jackson is the only quarterback they are after and I think Florida has a decent shot here. If Jackson doesn’t flip then Florida may not sign a quarterback this cycle.

Gator_n_Bmore: Is the staff slow playing WR Antonio Callaway??

AS: No they aren’t. Florida went in-home with Callaway on Wednesday night and he will visit Florida on Friday.

Gatornation6868: Did Tate visit with coaches last weekend while he was on campus?

AS: Not that I’m aware of but it’s very possible because he was at his sister’s track meet.

Gatornation6868: Have there been any secret visitors the last couple of weeks that have not been reported?

AS: No

Cluckugator: Do you think the recruiting services are underestimating Scarlett? Don’t understand why he is not a consensus 5 star after watching his highlights.

AS: Yes they are. In my opinion Scarlett should be the number one running back in the country. He has the total package as a running back. He’s physical and athletic and is a load to bring down.

Sinner: Do you see Chris Williamson in this class?

AS: Florida getting the last visit definitely bodes well for them. I like Florida’s chances as long as the visit goes well. Williamson is also good friends with Daniel Imatorbhehbe.

Andrew Spiveyandrewspiveyandrew.spivey1987@yahoo.comAuthorAndrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.GatorCountry.com